Greenpeace activitists who climbed on top of a British Airways aircraft at Heathrow this morning have now been removed by police.
In a huge breach of the airport’s security, four protestors waited for all passengers to disembark from a flight from Manchester before crossing a patch of tarmac and climbing the aircraft’s stairs onto the fuselage.
They were campaigning against the addition of a third runway at Heathrow and mounted a large banner on the aircraft’s tailfin that read ‘Climate Emergency – No Third Runway’.
Anna Jones, one of the protestors, told reporters: “I am standing on this plane because our planet and the people who live on it are in danger. Climate change can be beaten but not by almost doubling the size of the world’s biggest airport
“The scientists say we only have 100 months to get emissions down so we are here to draw a line in the sand and tell Gordon Brown his new runway must not and will not be built.”
An airport spokeman said: “The protestors have now been removed and this has caused no disruption to flights.”